In the letter, Crozier urged „decisive action“ to remove the „majority of personnel“ from the carrier.
“We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die,“ Crozier wrote. „If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset — our sailors.”
But Modly said the Navy was already addressing Crozier’s concerns by the time the letter was written. Modly’s chief of staff assured Crozier that he had „an open line anytime“ to relay his concerns directly to the secretary.
Crozier’s letter „unnecessarily“ caused panic among the sailors and their families, and raised doubts about the ship’s operational capability — concern that could have „emboldened our adversaries to seek advantage,“ Modly said.
One former senior defense official with knowledge of the discussions noted that the letter revealed information about the readiness of the ship that “should have been classified.” Putting that information in an unclassified format “that could be read obviously by everybody including the Chinese” showed poor judgment, the former official said.
Modly said he spoke with Defense Secretary Mark Esper about the decision to relieve Crozier of command and received his support. Modly did not receive any pressure from the White House to fire the commander, he said.
“I could reach no other conclusion that Capt. Crozier had allowed the complexity of his challenge with the Covid breakout on the ship to overwhelm his ability to act professionally when acting professionally was what was needed at the most at the time,“ Modly said. „We do and we should expect more from the commanding officers of our aircraft carriers.“
The chief of naval operations has directed an investigation into the incident and „the climate across the entire Pacific Fleet“ to help determine what led to „this breakdown in the chain of command,“ Modly said.
Reuters first reported the news.
Source: politico.com
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